OK Radio

Nature Theater of Oklahoma looks backward (and forward!) in theater time with curator Mark Russell of Under the Radar Festival in New York City. Join us as we chat with Mark about his early years in the Austin, TX music scene, his tenure at PS122, the invention of UTR, and hopes and fears about his upcoming move to Lausanne, Switzerland. Together we talk about drilling down, burning out, and branching out, and still somehow keeping one foot in the city we all love.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks again with choreographer/dancer/artist Mårten Spångberg about conning, cunning, consciousness, unconsciousness and – hey, by the way, are we just maybe making religious art? What? Political art? What do we stand for? What is an example of an idea that would be bad enough to scare us? A conversation that ranges all over the place, even to Swedish motorbikes, chakra breathing, Baader Meinhof, Chinese mafia, ending in love and anger in the year 2013. Hang in there.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma goes off the leash with the devilishly gifted and multi-talented performer/dancer/composer Mike Iveson, Jr. Join us as we talk about about pride, prejudice and process. Are we ever ONLY devised, dictatorial, collaborative, impulsive? Top down authoritative or totally egalitarian? Should we finally accept that process is a messy thing – resistant to even our best laid plans? (All this plus much more about insects, sea walnuts, spiritual visitation, psychics, and alien possession.)

Nature Theater of Oklahoma goes deep with artist Xaviera Simmons, talking about infection, inspiration, difference, and indifference – race and (like - ohmigod!) audience. What were we thinking? Is anger, aggression and dissatisfaction a prod to artistic enterprise? or a burden we should leave behind?

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to choreographer/dancer/artist Mårten Spångberg. A far-fetched discourse on corruption, bullshit, undermining, alchemy, pain-in-the-ass, architecture - and so much more! Including also rodents, moles, foxes, dragons, aliens, monsters and other totem species of the artistic animal underground.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to NPR correspondent Robert Smith about radio, reporting, and storytelling. What happens when we put extreme constraints of time on narrative – as in durational theater and art projects (such as Chris Marclay’s The Clock and our current project, Life and Times) – and in public radio which is typically built in short 3-6 minute story segments? We also examine the ways in which live performance and radio are both shaped (respectively) by the physical presence and absence of their audience.

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to actor Scott Shepherd of ERS and the Wooster Group about strictures, exposures – and helicopters! We also ponder the intangible and ineffable in theater and the surprising and inevitable consequences of vitamins, nutrition, and bad shellfish on acting

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to playwright and performer Sibyl Kempson about adjustments we have to make when real life gets more dramatic than theater. How do we weigh life and death against the old showbiz notion of “the show must go on”? Also, enjoy as we share a few choice words about ambient theater, New Jersey theater, theater for dogs, cats, cavemen and aliens - among others. (We also try podcasting with our eyes closed to see what we look like inside ourselves.)

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to Adina Tal, director and founder of Nalaga’at Center in Tel Aviv about her work with a diverse company of deaf-blind actors (Muslims, Jews and Samaritans working together) in Israel. How can you direct someone who can neither see nor hear you - and who can neither see nor hear his audience or his fellow actors on stage? What kind of deeper questions does this work raise about perception and understanding?

Nature Theater of Oklahoma talks to theatre artist/dream-maker Joris Lacoste about his work with found audio in performance, and the issues it raises about originality, reproduction, truth and faithfulness. We also talk about his recent work involving hypnosis.